BRUINS GET IN HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH ARRIVAL

Holiday Bowl

A red carpet. Applauding officials. Even a mariachi band singing “Feliz Navidad.”

Not the worst way to make someone forget about a two-hour bus ride from Los Angeles.

The UCLA football team arrived in San Diego on Friday afternoon — six days before its Holiday Bowl date with Baylor — and was greeted by dozens of cheering bowl officials at the Marriott Marquis & Marina.

Grinning players walked through the North Tower entrance, coach Jim Mora hobnobbed with the media, and the bowl experience was officially under way.

“It’s great hospitality,” said UCLA senior defensive back Dalton Hilliard. “It’s going to be a great week here. I’m excited to get things going.”

The Bruins (9-4) had their best regular season since 2005 — the last year they won 10 games. They also reached the Pac-12 championship game for the second consecutive year, but fell to Stanford 27-24. Nevertheless, a win against Baylor (7-5) would punctuate an already impressive turnaround by Mora, who’s in his first year as coach in Westwood.

After 2005, UCLA went six straight seasons without winning more than seven games, and four times finished with a sub-.500 winning percentage. But behind redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Hundley (3,411 passing yards, 68.2 completion percentage, 26 TDs, 11 interceptions) and UCLA all-time rushing leader Johnathan Franklin (1,700 rushing yards, 6.3 ypg, 13 TDs), the Bruins have become a threat to win virtually every time they take the field.

Both schools will visit the San Diego Zoo on Christmas Eve and SeaWorld on Christmas. The game is at 6:45 p.m. Thursday at Qualcomm Stadium.